Rwanda has requested the creation of AI-based multilingual systems to combat hate speech on the Internet.
The government regards the tools as being instrumental in safeguarding national harmony in a multicultural society.
The authorities intend to use the National AI Policy in Rwanda to facilitate such systems.
The policy is focused on responsible AI with high levels of ethical and data protection.
The implementation would be steered by a committed AI office, under the Ministry of ICT and Innovation.
The tech companies in Rwanda are already developing AI tools in the Kinyarwanda language.
These projects are speech recognition, text-to-speech and translation platforms.
The solutions will target to ensure that digital spaces are accessible and safe to every citizen.
Observers say this follows the struggles being experienced globally to curb hate on the internet.
The problem is that the multilingual AI models are not good at detecting hate in low-resource languages.
The action taken by Rwanda aims at filling that gap.
As Rwanda is leading in terms of promoting ethical, inclusive AI, these multilingual systems may become a regional standard.
The government is optimistic that more sophisticated, locally-designed tools will be more effective in identifying harmful material.
It has the potential to transform online safety in the multi linguistic African continent.
